April plays winter

New Delhi: Overcast skies and light rainfall all through Tuesday brought down the mercury in the national capital, which recorded its coldest April day in three years.

The maximum temperature settled at 28.8 degrees Celsius, several notches below normal. The city had previously seen the maximum temperature drop to 28.4 degrees Celsius on April 1, 2023. The weather office has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by light to moderate rain for Wednesday, with cloudy skies likely to persist. According to the India Meteorological Department data, between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, Safdarjung recorded 3.0 mm rainfall, Lodhi Road also logged 3.0 mm, while Palam and Ridge recorded 2.1 mm each. Ayanagar recorded 2.0 mm of rainfall during the period. The maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 28.8 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, while Palam recorded 27.6 degrees Celsius, eight notches below normal.

Lodhi Road logged 28.1 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, Ridge 27.7 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal, and Ayanagar 27.8 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal.

The minimum temperature at Safdarjung was 20.1 degrees Celsius, close to normal, while Palam recorded 19.6 degrees Celsius, marginally below normal. Lodhi Road logged 18.6 degrees Celsius, marginally below normal, Ridge 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, and Ayanagar 18.1 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal. The minimum temperature on Wednesday is expected to settle at 17 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature at 28 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘moderate’ category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) of 114, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. According to CPCB standards, an AQI of zero to 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200

‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.